Thursday, July 30, 2009

Well that took a little longer than expected. I know that I promised you something decadent to follow the green monster that I subjected you to earlier this month, but in all honesty, my pre-bar exam diet was hardly the stuff great blog posts are made of. It consisted mostly of a constant stream of coffee, takeout sushi, and anything I could sneak past the security guard stationed at the front desk of the library.

With one major exception. When most people get stressed out, they call a friend, or go for walk, or get a massage. Me? I bought an ice cream maker and a copy of David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop. And then I made a batch of his Gingersnap Ice Cream. I'm still a bit dazed from the whole bar taking experience, so I will keep it simple: this ice cream (and the entire book) is amazing. I'm talking drool inducing, diet blowing, make you forget about the stack of flashcards threatening to swallow your apartment whole amazing. In other words, it's a dangerous, dangerous recipe and I need to get rid of all of the leftovers immediately. Just as soon as I finish this bowl.

Cut the ginger into thin slices, and place the slices in a saucepan. Cover the ginger slices with water, and bring to a boil. After boiling for two minutes, drain the ginger (discarding the water) and return the ginger to the saucepan. Add the milk, 1 cup of the cream, the sugar, and the salt, and heat until the mixture is warm. Cover the saucepan, remove it from the heat, and let the ginger steep for about an hour.

Remove the ginger from the cream-mixture and discard it. Rewarm the cream. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. Slowly pour a little bit of the warm cream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. This helps warm the egg yolks up and will keep them from cooking when they are added into the hot cream. Then pour the yolks into the saucepan with the cream. Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon or spatula. Add the last cup of cream, and refrigerate the mixture until it's fully chilled. (Note: David Lebovitz suggests straining the custard before adding the final cup of cream, and chilling the mixture over an ice bath before putting it in the refrigerator. I skipped both of these steps). Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. During the last couple of minutes of churning, mix in the Speculoos.

Preheat oven to 350. Beat the butter and sugar until smooth, and then add the molasses and the egg yolk. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated. Roll the dough into balls, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, and flatten each ball with a drinking glass that has been pressed in granulated sugar. Bake for 7-8 minutes, remove from the oven, and let cool. Break into small pieces before mixing into the ice cream.

4 comments:

You've sold me on this one! I am totally going to make this as soon as I get into my new place (I am moving back to NYC next week) and get my ice cream maker set up! It is all sad, packed away in its little box! The ice cream looks delicious!